1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a procedure and a system for supplying amino acids or chemical derivatives in liquid form to ruminant livestock.
2. Related Art
For years now, amino acids, the basic components of proteins, have represented the most economical and efficient means for adapting the protein composition of the diets of animals bred for productive purposes to the increasing needs dictated by genetic improvement and the qualitative demands of the market for products of animal origin.
Consequently, amino acids, particularly lysine, methionine, threonine and tryptophan, are commonly added to fodder, in variable amounts according to the amino acid composition of the base feed and of the required nutritional objectives.
Amino acids of industrial origin come from chemical synthesis or fermentation processes, and are available to the animal feed industry either in powder or liquid form, chemically formulated either as natural-like amino acids or as various chemical derivatives, which are then metabolized by the animal in biologically active amino acids.
The ruminant species (especially bovines, and to a lesser degree sheep, goats and buffalo) cannot, however, benefit from these additions to their diet, which they need from a nutritional point of view, because the rumen, acting as a biological fermentor, transforms the amino acids added to the fodder, using them as components in culture material for the bacterial and protozoan populations which are its natural inhabitants.
In order to solve the problem of the ruminal degradability of the amino acids added to the fodder, the industry has proposed several forms of amino acid “rumen protection,” which are able to make them non-assailable by the bacterial flora of the rumen but at the same time bioavailable (that is, absorbable by the animal) in the part of the digestive system responsible for absorbing nutrients (the intestine). These technologies range from simply covering the amino acids with lipid films with a high melting point to sophisticated techniques of the pharmaceutical type which provide for including amino acids in micropellets covered with pH-sensitive polymers or rumen-resistant cellulose, as well as other means. Generally speaking, either the techniques are relatively economical but not very efficient, such as lipid films which provide approximately 10-40% protection against the rumen, or are fairly efficient but costly in proportion to the value of the protected product, such as micropellets which provide approximately 60-90% protection against the rumen but the cost of the technology is often greater than the value of the amino acid.